Update cookies preferences
 

Latest News

Behold, the sea! WFCS marks Mayflower 2020 with sea-themed concert

8th March, 2020

Back to all posts


Celebrating ‘Mayflower 2020’ in grand choral and orchestral style, Worcester Festival Choral Society’s spring concert on Saturday 21st March 2020 at 7.30pm will combine three of the most beloved, sea-themed classical works in the soaring surroundings of Worcester Cathedral.

Vaughan Williams’ breath-taking choral masterpiece A Sea Symphony is a ravishing musical voyage celebrating the mighty power of the ocean, from its thrilling opening brass fanfare to the final notes disappearing over the horizon.

Complementing the choral excitement, Mendelssohn's unmistakable Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave) and Britten's vivid Four Sea Interludes (distilled from the opera Peter Grimes) will be performed by the Meridian Sinfonia symphony orchestra.

Singing with the 150 members of Worcester Festival Choral Society will be internationally acclaimed soprano Sarah Fox and baritone Julien Van Mellaerts (both pictured left). Worcester Cathedral’s Director of Music Samuel Hudson conducts.

Ben Cooper, Chairman of Worcester Festival Choral Society, said: “This is an absolutely thrilling concert, with impressive musical forces! We’ve themed it to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's voyage to the New World, especially as Worcestershire’s Edward Winslow was one of America’s Pilgrim Fathers.”

Established in 1861 and closely associated with Sir Edward Elgar in its early years, Worcester Festival Choral Society’s auditioned singers are selected from across the County. Today it performs some of the world’s ‘great choral works’ at three major concerts in Worcester Cathedral each year. A popular ‘Come and Sing’ one-day workshop is also being held on 4 April in Worcester Cathedral, giving non-members the chance to learn Elgar’s The Music Makers.

For concert tickets – and opt-in to a pre-concert dinner prize draw run with Côte Brasserie Worcester – visit the WFCS box office. Tickets also from Worcester Live: 01905 611427

 


Back to all posts

Next Concert

BACH - ST MATTHEW PASSION

Johann Sebastian Bach’s inspirational 1727 oratorio St Matthew Passion is both a musical icon for the Christian world and an expression of feelings common to the whole of humanity.

Known as the ‘Great Passion’, it presents a powerful setting of Jesus's final days, drawing on parts of St Matthew’s Gospel.

From intimate grief to monumental crowd scenes, the work’s richly scored arias, chorales and choruses sculpt the story into a gripping drama, told with a vivid sense of theatre by double chorus, ... read more

22nd of March, 2025
Worcester Cathedral (Plan Your Visit)